Manoj Sinha

{{Short description|2nd Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Manoj Sinha

| image =File:Manoj Sinha.jpg

| office = Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir

| term_start = 7 August 2020

| term_end =

| predecessor = G. C. Murmu

| 2blankname = Chief Minister

| 2namedata = Vacant (till 2024)
Omar Abdullah (from 2024)

| 1blankname = President

| 1namedata = Ram Nath Kovind
Droupadi Murmu

| office1 = Minister of State, Government of India

| primeminister1 = Narendra Modi

| term_start1 = 16 May 2014

| term_end1 = 24 May 2019

| 1blankname1 = {{centre|Ministry}}

| 1namedata1 = {{centre|Term}}

| 2blankname1 = Ministry of Railways (MoS)

| 2namedata1 = 26 May 2014 - 24 May 2019

| 3blankname1 = Ministry of Communications (MoS, Independent charge)

| 3namedata1 = 5 July 2016 - 24 May 2019

| office2 = Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

| term_start2 = 2014

| term_end2 = 2019

| predecessor2 = Radhe Mohan Singh

| successor2 = Afzal Ansari

| constituency2 = Ghazipur

| term_start3 = 1999

| term_end3 = 2004

| predecessor3 = Omprakash Singh

| successor3 = Afzal Ansari

| constituency3 = Ghazipur

| term_start4 = 1996

| term_end4 = 1998

| predecessor4 = Vishwanath Shastri

| successor4 = Omprakash Singh

| constituency4 = Ghazipur

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|7|1|df=y}}

| birth_place = Mohanpura, Uttar Pradesh

| spouse = {{marriage|Neelam Sinha|1977}}

| party = Bharatiya Janata Party

| profession = Civil engineer

| alma_mater = Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi

| residence = *Raj Bhavan, Jammu (winter)

Raj Bhavan, Srinagar (summer)

| citizenship = Indian

| footnotes =

| date =

| year =

| source =

| order = 2nd

| appointer = Ram Nath Kovind

}}

Manoj Sinha (born 1 July 1959) is an Indian politician serving as the 2nd and the current lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir.{{cite news|url= https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/manoj-sinha-takes-oath-as-lg-of-jammu-and-kashmir/articleshow/77409120.cms|title= Manoj Sinha takes oath as LG of Jammu and Kashmir|newspaper=The Times of India|date= 7 August 2020}}{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/assembly-elections/manoj-sinha-6-things-about-contender-for-up-chief-minister-s-post/story-IAKFeP5Yv19a5nbWAehgUP.html|title=Manoj Sinha: 6 things about contender for UP chief minister's post|author=Saubhadra Chatterji|date=19 March 2017|access-date=29 March 2017|newspaper=Hindustan Times}} He served as the minister of state for Communications (independent charge) and minister of state for Railways in the government of India. Sinha was elected as member of parliament in the Lok Sabha, representing Ghazipur parliamentary constituency for three terms from the Bharatiya Janata Party.{{cite web|url=http://www.elections.in/political-leaders/manoj-sinha.html|title=Manoj Sinha Biography - About family, political life, awards won, history|website=Elections.in}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-swearing-in-new-team-modi-leaves-out-these-big-names-2045617|title=New Team Modi Leaves Out These Big Names|website=NDTV.com|access-date=30 May 2019}} Sinha was in the race for the post of UP chief minister after 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/why-yogi-adityanath-as-up-cm-by-narendra-modi-and-amit-shah#read-more|title = In Race for UP CM, Adityanath Pipped Manoj Sinha in the Last Lap|date = 22 March 2017|website=Thequint.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://theprint.in/politics/what-helped-manoj-sinha-a-low-profile-up-politician-kishore-kumar-fan-land-jk-l-g-post/476252/|title=What helped Manoj Sinha, a low-profile UP politician & Kishore Kumar fan, land J&K L-G post|website=Theprint.in|date=6 August 2020}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/elections/uttar-pradesh-2017/manoj-sinha-is-front-runner-for-up-cm/article17523086.ece|title=Manoj Sinha is front runner for U.P. CM|newspaper=The Hindu|date=17 March 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/assembly-elections/rss-red-flag-spoiled-manoj-sinha-s-chances-at-becoming-up-chief-minister/story-LMZyJCFzDaXQO4cpKnCcdN.html|title=RSS red flag spoiled Manoj Sinha's chances of becoming UP chief minister|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=19 March 2017}}

Early life and education

Sinha was born in Mohanpura of Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh on 1 July 1959.{{cite web |title=Manoj Sinha Biography - About family, political life, awards won, history |url=https://www.elections.in/political-leaders/manoj-sinha.html |website=Elections in India |access-date=18 October 2024}} He has a B.Tech And M.Tech degree in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi (earlier called IT-BHU).{{cite web|url=http://www.itbhuglobal.org/chronicle/archives/2014/05/manoj_sinha_civ.php|title=The Chronicle: Manoj Sinha (Civil 1979) appointed as Minister of State (Railways) in the new Cabinet|website=Itbhuglobal.org}}{{citation |title=Cabinet reshuffle: Modi government's got talent but is it being fully utilised? |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/cabinet-reshuffle-modi-governments-got-talent-but-is-it-being-fully-utilised/articleshow/53132757.cms |work=The Economic Times |date=10 July 2016 |last1=Layak |first1=Suman }} During his student days, Sinha was the students' union president in the Banaras Hindu University.

Political career

His political career began when he was elected as the president of Banaras Hindu University Students Union in 1982.{{cite news |last=Bajpai |first=Namita |date=18 March 2017 |title=Manoj Sinha: A performer beyond caste|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/mar/18/manoj-sinha-a-performer-beyond-caste-1582615.html |work=The New Indian Express |access-date=29 March 2017}} He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996 and repeated the term in 1999. Sinha has been a member of the BJP national council from 1989 to 1996. He was elected to the Lower House for a third term in national politics when the BJP swept the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

Prior to joining active politics, he was a member of the General Council, School of Planning during 1999–2000. He has also been a member of committee on Energy and member of committee on Government Assurances.

He was inducted as a member of the BJP National Council in 1989. He was elected for successive terms in 1996 & 1999 and again in 2014 to the Lok Sabha from Ghazipur Constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He was made the Minister of State for the Railways Ministry in the first set of ministers inducted into Narendra Modi government in May 2014. In July 2016, during the second cabinet reshuffle, he was also made Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Communications Ministry.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/lok-sabha-elections-2014/news/PM-Modi-announces-list-of-Cabinet-ministers-with-portfolios/articleshow/35621676.cms|title=PM Modi announces list of Cabinet ministers with portfolios|date=26 May 2014|newspaper=The Times of India|access-date=4 June 2014}}

File:Minister of State for Communications (IC) and Railways, Shri Manoj Sinha addressing at the launch of the India Post Payments Bank, in New Delhi on September 01, 2018.JPG, in New Delhi on 1 September 2018]]

An agriculturalist at heart and a silent performer who consciously maintains a low profile, Sinha has been among the best performing members of Parliament in the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999.

Recently, he was counted among the seven most honest MPs by a leading magazine. Sinha, a civil engineer and an IIT-BHU alumnus, has set a rare example by utilising his entire MPLAD Fund for the welfare of the people of his constituency.

He is both recognised for a strong ability to connect with masses, especially at the rural level along with being a firm administrator.{{cite news |title=Amit Shah likely to meet Modi, RSS tonight, decide on UP CM pick |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/170317/amit-shah-likely-to-meet-modi-rss-tonight-decide-on-up-cm-pick.html |work=Deccan Chronicle |date=17 March 2017 |access-date=30 March 2017}}

As Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir

Manoj Sinha was appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir by the President of India, a day after G. C. Murmu resigned. On 7 August 2020, Sinha completed his oath of office.

Accusations

Ashok Kumar Parmar, an IAS officer, has accused Manoj Sinha of inflicting 'harassment, humiliation, intimidation, atrocious behaviour and frequent transfers for his being a Scheduled Caste solely for the reason that he highlighted bunglings in implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission.{{Cite news |title=J&K: Dalit IAS officer files complaint of "harassment, humiliation" against L-G, Chief Secretary |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/india/jk-dalit-ias-officer-files-complaint-of-harassment-humiliation-against-l-g-chief-secretary-1503216550.html |work=The Statesman |date=28 August 2023 |access-date=29 August 2023}}{{Cite news |title=J&K: IAS Officer From Dalit Community Accuses LG, Chief Secretary of 'Harassment, Humiliation' |url=https://thewire.in/government/jk-ias-dalit-lg-manoj-sinha-harassment-humiliation |work=The Wire |date=29 August 2023 |access-date=30 August 2023}}{{Specify|date=August 2024|reason=Specify which of the two was the reason}}

In October 2023, Parmar alleged that Sinha Administration amended a multi-crore insurance contract to favour Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company. {{Cite news |title=A bureaucrat, who earlier complained of irregularities against J&K LG, now alleges that Sinha used over Rs 10 lakh public funds for son's engagement bash - Kashmir Times (Since 1954): Multi-media web news platform |url=https://kashmirtimes.com/a-bureaucrat-who-earlier-complained-of-irregularities-against-jk-lg-now-alleges-that-sinha-used-over-rs-10-lakh-public-funds-for-sons-engagement-bash/ |work=Kashmir Times |date=6 July 2024 |access-date=8 July 2024}}

On 7 July 2024, a Letter from Jammu and Kashmir’s resident commissioner in New Delhi to principal secretary in Raj Bhawan alleged misuse of public funds by Manoj Sinha to fund a “personal function” reportedly on the eve of his son’s engagement ceremony in 2021.{{Cite news |title=Outrage in J&K After LG's Orders to Admin to Fund 'Personal Function' Come to Light |url=https://thewire.in/government/outrage-in-jk-after-lgs-orders-to-admin-to-fund-personal-function-comes-to-light |work=The Wire |date=5 July 2024 |access-date=8 July 2024}}